


"Goodness had nothing to do with it": The Doctor and metaphysics

by orelseatlastsheunderstoodit



Series: My Doctor Who Meta [9]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, Meta, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2019-07-05 14:32:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15865530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orelseatlastsheunderstoodit/pseuds/orelseatlastsheunderstoodit
Summary: Written as a response to this Thank You 12 week prompt:July 23: Character Development. “Am I a good man?” From the uncertain, cue-card needing 12 that we started with to the man he is now, this is a day to appreciate the character development that 12’s had during his run.





	"Goodness had nothing to do with it": The Doctor and metaphysics

Perhaps some definitions are in order before we begin. First,  _metaphysics_. [Merriam-Webster](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.merriam-webster.com%2Fdictionary%2Fmetaphysics&t=OTkzNGU2ZGY5ODRhZjAyMTNlNTk1ZWZkZTY5YWVkOTI0MjM3MGFmNCxFY2FoQ0Izeg%3D%3D&b=t%3A6tOCh6Sn38LfuqvcyD6tPA&p=http%3A%2F%2Forelseatlastsheunderstoodit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163338041135%2Fgoodness-had-nothing-to-do-with-it-the-doctor&m=0) notes that the word was first used in 1569(!) , and that it’s “a division of philosophy that is concerned with the fundamental nature of reality and being and that includes [ontology](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.merriam-webster.com%2Fdictionary%2Fontology&t=OGJjOTU3NTRkMzhiM2EzMWNjZDdmMmQzOTA4YzlhMzQwMDUyMWFkMixFY2FoQ0Izeg%3D%3D&b=t%3A6tOCh6Sn38LfuqvcyD6tPA&p=http%3A%2F%2Forelseatlastsheunderstoodit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163338041135%2Fgoodness-had-nothing-to-do-with-it-the-doctor&m=0), [cosmology](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.merriam-webster.com%2Fdictionary%2Fcosmology&t=NGYyMDlkNjFhOWIyZjhhNTQwMWFkNGI0MDRlOTg3ZDIxYWQ5NmUyYixFY2FoQ0Izeg%3D%3D&b=t%3A6tOCh6Sn38LfuqvcyD6tPA&p=http%3A%2F%2Forelseatlastsheunderstoodit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163338041135%2Fgoodness-had-nothing-to-do-with-it-the-doctor&m=0), and often [epistemology](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.merriam-webster.com%2Fdictionary%2Fepistemology&t=MjI4ZmYzODk2YmM4MzM3MjQ5MDg1YzEzYzNkNmIwN2U0NzdlZmE0MSxFY2FoQ0Izeg%3D%3D&b=t%3A6tOCh6Sn38LfuqvcyD6tPA&p=http%3A%2F%2Forelseatlastsheunderstoodit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163338041135%2Fgoodness-had-nothing-to-do-with-it-the-doctor&m=0)” and “ a study of what is outside objective experience”. Other definitions that are useful:  _ontology_ (questions “concerned with the nature and relations of being”),  _cosmology_ (questions concerned with the nature of the universe, and “a branch of astronomy that deals with the origin, structure, and space-time relationships of the universe”), and  _epistemology_ (questions concerned with how do we know things, or “the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity”. I can’t look at that list of definitions without my brain going “That’s Twelve! That’s Twelve! That’s Twelve!”

The ideas being explored in Twelve’s era actually begin with the episode Twelve first appears in, and that’s “The Day of the Doctor”. The episode begins with Clara quoting Marcus Aurelius: “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” And that episode also explicates the promise of the Doctor’s name: “Never cruel or cowardly, never give up, never give in”.

But it’s also fitting that one of Twelve’s first metaphysical questions is asked after an adventure aboard a Dalek aboard a ship named the  _Aristotle_. Aristotle (the man, not the ship) [wrote](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FCategory%3AWorks_by_Aristotle&t=YzAzNDZmMjA5NTVmNDYxNTk2YjRlMTYwNGQzNDcwYTI5ODYyMzM2OCxreURrZ2NOMg%3D%3D&b=t%3A6tOCh6Sn38LfuqvcyD6tPA&p=http%3A%2F%2Forelseatlastsheunderstoodit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F99244987260%2Fhow-very-literary-this-series-has-been&m=0) on [topics](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fclassics.mit.edu%2FBrowse%2Fbrowse-Aristotle.html&t=Y2E0MzVlNTdjYzk0MDhhZWE1Njc2NmQ1OGU2OGRkYWYwZjgwMDExMyxreURrZ2NOMg%3D%3D&b=t%3A6tOCh6Sn38LfuqvcyD6tPA&p=http%3A%2F%2Forelseatlastsheunderstoodit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F99244987260%2Fhow-very-literary-this-series-has-been&m=0) such as the soul, death, aging, and the essence of things, including people. He asks Clara, “Am I a good man?” and her answer is, “You asked me if you’re a good man and the answer is, I don’t know. But I think you try to be and I think that’s probably the point.”

**Conjecture. _Trying to be good is the point. Being good is a matter of trying to be good. But, then, question. What does it mean to be good?_**

_**If there’s any Doctor who’s been metaphysical, it’s Twelve.**_  He’s the one who asks what the  _real_  questions are, the one who uses the Socratic method to teach with. Asking questions, testing limits, probing, listening, studying.

He asks the question that perhaps the other New Who Doctors have been afraid to (or perhaps they were all too certain of what the true answer would be): Is the Doctor good?

Is the Doctor good? It’s definitely a question worth exploring, as the Doctor, as a person, has done fundamentally bad things for fundamentally good reasons. Or, rather, the Doctor has done things that are seen as bad (or, that they see as bad) in the name of what is good (which begs the question of, what is good?). There are lots of things that the Doctor has done that would be considered  _bad_ by someone or another. He’s a thief. He’s a liar. Sometimes, for the Doctor, the ends justify his means. Did the Half-Faced Man jump, or was he pushed? Would either option have been good? Is one of those options better than the other? What is the limit to violence done in the name of saving others? You see,  _metaphysics_.

Without the Time War hanging over him, Twelve doesn’t know who he is anymore. Of course, he  _knows_  that he’s the Doctor, but what he doesn’t know is who the Doctor is anymore. And it’s not a case of post-regeneration trauma (like Ten’s pondering of what kind of person he was), either, because the question lingers. It’s addressed from different angles, it’s dissected and pulled apart and  _tested_.

It’s as if the Doctor devises and tests a series of hypotheses in order to figure out who the Doctor is. Who is the Doctor? What choices does the Doctor make when the options are all bad? How does the Doctor live up to the promise of their name?

For example:

> Question. Why does the Doctor lie?
> 
> Conjecture. When it’s necessary for the survival for themselves or other people (companions, others). Because spoilers. Because frightened people don’t need the truth because they get panicky and stupid and try to throw you out of the bus. Because you cannot motivate people who think they’re going to die. 
> 
> Question. Is lying bad?
> 
> Conjecture. Lying is usually considered bad. Therefore, since lying is considered bad, and the Doctor lies, then the Doctor is bad, or, at the very least, the Doctor is not good.

We see this particular situation play out in both “Mummy on the Orient Express” and “Flatline”. The Doctor explicitly tells Clara to lie to Maisie, in order to bring her to the lab: “Well, I don’t know. Lie to her. Tell her I can save her. Whatever it takes to get her here.” Clara does so, but she’s not happy about it. “You knew this was dangerous,” she says to him.

> DOCTOR: I didn’t  _know_. I certainly hoped.   
>  CLARA: Okay, this. You see, this. This is why I’m leaving you. This. Because you lied. You lied to me, again. And now you’ve made me lie. You’ve made me your accomplice.   
>  MAISIE: What? Sorry? When did you lie? Clara?   
>  CLARA: Maisie, I am, I am so sorry. ([link](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chakoteya.net%2FDoctorWho%2F34-8.html&t=NmQ4MDJhZDZlYTEyZWQ3ZTg4MTY3NGU1MTgyZGFhYWQ1N2FhYzE2ZixFY2FoQ0Izeg%3D%3D&b=t%3A6tOCh6Sn38LfuqvcyD6tPA&p=http%3A%2F%2Forelseatlastsheunderstoodit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163338041135%2Fgoodness-had-nothing-to-do-with-it-the-doctor&m=0))

But then the Doctor takes on Maisie’s grief and pain and ends up solving the mystery. When Clara asks him about it later, his answer is this: “I didn’t know if I could save her. I couldn’t save Quell, I couldn’t save Moorhouse. There was a good chance that she’d die too. At which point, I would have just moved onto the next, and the next, until I beat it. Sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones. But you still have to choose.”

In the very next episode, “Flatline”, Clara is able to take on the role of Doctor due to the fact that Twelve’s trapped in an increasingly tiny TARDIS. At one point, Clara has just snapped at a horrible man about possibly being saved by Rigsy’s paintings, and says to the Doctor,

> I just hope I can keep them all alive.  
>  DOCTOR: Ah, welcome to my world. So what’s next, Doctor Clara?  
>  CLARA: Lie to them.   
>  DOCTOR [OC]: What?   
>  CLARA: Lie to them. Give them hope. Tell them they’re all going to be fine. Isn’t that what you would do?  
>  DOCTOR: In a manner of speaking. It’s true that people with hope tend to run faster, whereas people who think they’re doomed  
>  CLARA: Dawdle. End up dead.  
>  DOCTOR: So that’s what I sound like. ([link](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chakoteya.net%2FDoctorWho%2F34-9.html&t=OGJhNDIxZmI4ZTk1YjZjNWIxNmRhYmU4NWUxMWI5YTFiYTgzYzE0MCxFY2FoQ0Izeg%3D%3D&b=t%3A6tOCh6Sn38LfuqvcyD6tPA&p=http%3A%2F%2Forelseatlastsheunderstoodit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163338041135%2Fgoodness-had-nothing-to-do-with-it-the-doctor&m=0))

It’s at the end of that episode where he tells Clara that being a ‘good’ Doctor doesn’t mean one did ‘good’ things. “You were an exceptional Doctor,” he tells Clara, but adds, “Goodness had nothing to do with it.” Basically, one can achieve good in the world without personally being good.

 **Question**. If the Doctor is not good and the Doctor is not bad, then what is the Doctor? 

 ** _Conjecture_**. The Doctor is a hero. 

 ** _Conjecture_**. The Doctor is a soldier (specifically, an officer). 

 ** _Conjecture_**. The Doctor is the President of the World. 

From all of the Doctor’s experiences in Series 8, the conclusion he comes to is, “ I really didn’t know. I wasn’t sure. You lose sight sometimes. Thank you! I am  _not_  a good man! I am not a bad man. I am not a hero. And I’m definitely not a president. And no, I’m not an officer. Do you know what I am? I am an idiot, with a box and a screwdriver. Just passing through, helping out, learning. I don’t need an army. I never have, because I’ve got them. Always them. Because love, it’s not an emotion. Love is a promise.”

And when he comes to this conclusion, that love is a promise, that love is actions taken to keep a promise, then he realizes that perhaps goodness is love enacted. That loving people create an obligation to care for them.

 **But, then, of course, he frets over how best to enact that love.** Does that mean that he willingly goes on his own to visit one of his greatest enemies because that enemy claims to be ailing? Does that mean he saves the life of his enemies even when doing so might mean they will turn around and betray him? Does that mean stopping someone from interfering in the past in order to save a loved one? (Does that mean interfering in the past in order to save a loved one?) Does that mean tolerating the loss of even one person? Does that mean avoiding being a tidal wave?

How does the Doctor keep the promise that is love? That’s the question the Doctor is asking in Series 9, and the main gist of it comes down to this:

> DOCTOR: There’s no such thing as the Doctor. I’m just a bloke in a box, telling stories. And I didn’t come here because I’m ashamed. A bit of shame never hurt anyone. I came because you’re sick and you asked. And because sometimes, on a good day, if I try very hard, I’m not some old Time Lord who ran away. I’m the Doctor.  
>  DAVROS: Compassion then.  
>  DOCTOR: Always.  
>  DAVROS: It grows strong and fierce in you, like a cancer.  
>  DOCTOR: I hope so.  
>  DAVROS: It will kill you in the end.  
>  DOCTOR: I wouldn’t die of anything else.  
>  DAVROS: You may rely on it. ([link](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chakoteya.net%2FDoctorWho%2F35-2.html&t=NjY0ODQxM2QzMTU3M2IwMWEzODBhOWUyNDM4MjE5YzQ4MTk5ZGQ4YixFY2FoQ0Izeg%3D%3D&b=t%3A6tOCh6Sn38LfuqvcyD6tPA&p=http%3A%2F%2Forelseatlastsheunderstoodit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163338041135%2Fgoodness-had-nothing-to-do-with-it-the-doctor&m=0))

and this:

> DOCTOR: I know where I got this face, and I know what it’s for.   
>  CLARA: Okay, what’s it for?   
>  DOCTOR: To remind me. To hold me to the mark.  _I’m the Doctor, and I save people._  And if anyone happens to be listening, and you’ve got any kind of a problem with that, to hell with you! ([link](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chakoteya.net%2FDoctorWho%2F35-5.html&t=OTg2ZGUyNWRhMGM4NzM1ZWYxZjczZjY5YjM4OTk5ZTgwMDNjZTVhNCxFY2FoQ0Izeg%3D%3D&b=t%3A6tOCh6Sn38LfuqvcyD6tPA&p=http%3A%2F%2Forelseatlastsheunderstoodit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163338041135%2Fgoodness-had-nothing-to-do-with-it-the-doctor&m=0))

So, compassion is how you keep that promise. Love is what motivates actions of goodness. But compassion and love open one up to the possibility of being hurt. Clara’s being compassionate when she takes on Rigsy’s death sentence. Love is why the Doctor would take 4.5 billion years punching an azbantium wall instead of giving in to the Time Lords’ interrogation techniques. Love is sometimes telling the truth and communication, as Lucy and Grant find out. Love just means a little time on Darillium. Love is saving Missy’s life even when everyone knows she’s probably deserving of death.

And then we come to Series 10.

Series 10–well, if we haven’t been seeing goodness as actions enacted in love, then I don’t know what I’ve been watching. “Goodness is not goodness that seeks advantage. Good is good in the final hour, in the deepest pit without hope, without witness, without reward. Virtue is only virtue in extremis,” intones Nardole (from “[Extremis](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chakoteya.net%2FDoctorWho%2F36-6.html&t=NTU2ZDAxYWFmZWEwYmMxNmQ5NzUwZjM3MTE2MTdkMjJmOWUxNDJkMyxFY2FoQ0Izeg%3D%3D&b=t%3A6tOCh6Sn38LfuqvcyD6tPA&p=http%3A%2F%2Forelseatlastsheunderstoodit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163338041135%2Fgoodness-had-nothing-to-do-with-it-the-doctor&m=0)”). 

Missy asks to be taught how to be good. Bill asks for the release of the creature under the Thames even when it’s uncertain as to what that creature will do upon its release. 

“You don’t have to be  _real_  to the be the Doctor,” the Doctor says to the Monks. (I’d add to that to, we don’t have to be fictional to be the Doctor.)

And goodness isn’t always rewarded. Bill is good, through and through, and her kindness is saying, ‘Yes, let’s take Missy on a trial run’ ends badly for her. Bill is good, and she’s horrified to find out that the people in the hospital are being silenced. Bill is good, and the friend she makes betrays her. Bill is good, and the people fear her. Bill is good, and she decides to save the people afraid of her anyway. Bill is good in a way that the Doctor, who has agonized over the whole topic, is not. He’s never needed an army because he has people like Bill and like Clara and like Danny who show him what goodness in extremis really is.

But who is the Doctor in extremis? Who is the Doctor without witness or reward, who is the Doctor without hope? He’s the person who says this:

> No! No! When I say no, you turn back around! Hey! I’m going to be dead in a few hours, so before I go, let’s have this out, you and me, once and for all. Winning? Is that what you think it’s about? I’m not trying to win. I’m not doing this because I want to beat someone, or because I hate someone, or because, because I want to blame someone. It’s not because it’s fun and God knows it’s not because it’s easy. It’s not even because it works, because it hardly ever does. I do what I do, because it’s right! Because it’s decent! And above all, it’s kind. It’s just that. Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there’s no point in any of this at all, but it’s the best I can do, so I’m going to do it. And I will stand here doing it till it kills me. You’re going to die too, some day. How will that be? Have you thought about it? What would you die for? Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand, is where I fall. Stand with me. These people are terrified. Maybe we can help, a little. Why not, just at the end, just be kind? ([link](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chakoteya.net%2FDoctorWho%2F36-12.html&t=MjJjM2FhZjVmNjIzM2FlNWRiY2Y0NDBjMzFjMTllNzM4MjBjNjE0ZCxFY2FoQ0Izeg%3D%3D&b=t%3A6tOCh6Sn38LfuqvcyD6tPA&p=http%3A%2F%2Forelseatlastsheunderstoodit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F163338041135%2Fgoodness-had-nothing-to-do-with-it-the-doctor&m=0))

Often, we become what we think we’re not because we are trying to live up to what we think we should be. The Doctor, in trying to be the Doctor, in trying to be that idiot passing through and helping, that bloke in a box telling stories, that person trying to keep the promise of their name by taking care of others, is good. Yes, the Doctor has done and will do bad things, but they try to be good, and that’s really the point.

And the same can be said about us, too, I think.


End file.
